Neil Lloyd

Client Work

• In May 2021, Neil persuaded a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court to abolish the “test the waters” doctrine, which for at least 30 years some Illinois courts had invoked to limit a party’s absolute right to a single substitution of judge, ensuring uniformity throughout the state.
• Between January 2016 and May 2019, Neil served as in-court legal issues and appellate preservation counsel in five-week, three-month, and six-week product liability jury trials, assisting lead trial counsel concerning evidentiary issues, jury instructions, and evidentiary sufficiency motions, including the first trial in the country to raise the BAP1 genetic mutation as the causative agent for mesothelioma.
• In 2016, Neil served as in-court legal issues and appellate preservation counsel in a three-week bench trial raising issues of first impression under the Clean Air Act.
• Neil wrote the briefs and developed a successful oral argument strategy for a major product liability action involving the food and beverage industry. He persuaded the Illinois Appellate Court to set aside a $32 million jury verdict, to grant a new trial, and to reject the plaintiff’s theory that the defendant had a duty to warn the entire world about potential health risks associated with a class of flavoring products.
• Neil’s successful litigation strategy against a 15-year effort to expand tort liability for asbestos personal injury actions in Illinois under a civil conspiracy theory ensured that solvent defendants were not unfairly shouldered with damages caused by bankrupt entities.
• In an issue of first impression, Neil wrote the briefs and developed a successful litigation strategy for a major insurer concerning the scope of retroactivity of a prior New Mexico Supreme Court decision involving underinsured motorist coverage.
• Neil wrote the briefs and developed a successful litigation strategy for a major insurer facing a potential eight-figure exposure in hundreds of actions pending simultaneously in federal and state trial and appellate courts and administrative tribunals in Louisiana, where medical providers claimed that they had been underpaid for treating injured workers.
• Neil wrote the critical jury instructions, post-trial motions, and appellate briefs that led to the eventual exoneration of a former public company general counsel on criminal charges under the so-called “honest services” mail fraud statute.
• Neil led the multi-year defense of a law firm facing claims of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud arising from an underlying multi-year lawsuit against other professional services providers.

Professional Activities

• Adjunct Professor, University of Chicago Law School (legal ethics and professional responsibility)

• Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University School of Law (legal ethics)

• Instructor, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (deposition and trial skills)

Pro Bono

• Working with the ACLU of Illinois, Neil represented a transgender student seeking equal access to athletic facilities.
• Working with the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project and the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, Neil for more than a decade represented an Alabama capital defendant pressing claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel through the state and federal courts.
• Working with the Office of the Illinois Appellate Defender, Neil has represented indigent criminal defendants in their direct appeals, including developing a protocol and training program for efficiently screening criminal appeals for outside counsel.
• Neil, under appointment from the federal trial and appellate courts in Chicago, has represented incarcerated persons challenging the conditions of their confinement.

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Presentations

• “Ethics: Understanding Attorney Obligations in High-Risk Cases,” (panelist) Cutting-Edge issues in Asbestos Litigation Conference (Mar. 9, 2018)

Recognitions

• Illinois Leading Lawyer, Law Bulletin’s Illinois Leading Lawyers Network (2014-2021)